Your Mama Hears...

...From two well placed real estate busy bodies that the architecturally significant home of recently deceased actor Ricardo Montalban will soon to hit the market with an asking price around $20,000,000.

Although Señor Montalban was in the bizness of show for some seven decades, Your Mama's first memories of him are from the mid-1970s when his wonderfully trilled and accented English showed up on our colossal console tee-vee touting the elegance, affordability and soft Corinthian leather seats of the Chrysler Cordoba. As memorable as those commercial gems are and although he appeared in over 100 films and boob-toob programs, Señor Montalban will, of course, always be remembered for his signature role as the enigmatic and kinda creepy Mr. Roarke on Fantasy Island.

Property records reveal Mexican born Señor Montalban picked up his Oriole Drive property way back in August of 1982 when he paid Hard Rock Cafe founder Peter Morton $630,000 for the 1.22 acre parcel. It's unclear to Your Mama whether or not a residence existed on the property at the time of Señor Montalban's purchase, but we do know that in the early 1990s the suave Señor commissioned legendary Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta to design a sophisticated and contemporary crib that would provide the Montalban clan all the privacy and security they desired.

The resulting structure is 6,678 square feet of stacked volumes, solid planes and well placed voids that manage to provide privacy and take advantage of the views provided by the site's location high on a promontory at the very tippy top of an area above the Sunset Strip known as The Bird Streets. Property records show the house includes 5 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms and both of our sources whispered that although the house is magnificent, it's become a bit shabby and will require updating, upgrading and, natch, a nice gay decorator to do the architecture justice.

Two other large lavish estates occupy the same promontory as Señor Montalban's casa. Immediately next door is hedge fund honcho Robert Krail who purchased his 9,691 square foot Italian villa style pile in September of 2006 for $19,500,000 and has it back on the market with a blistering asking price of $28,000,0000 (lowered from $29,000,000) and next to Mister Krail is motivational speaker and super Scientologist Grant Cardone and his ack-turuss wifey Elena Lyons who shack up in Lionel Ritchie's old residence. Although not currently on the open market, the couple have unsuccessfully attempted to sell their 6,099 square foot architectural white elephant on and off ever since 2005 for prices ranging from $14,900,000 to $17,500,000.

Photos: (top) Pacific Coast News; (bottom) Legorreta & Legorreta

Your Mama Would Like to Thank...

...all the children who made February 2009 the most trafficked month to date with almost 625,000 page hits.

When we started the Real Estalker it was inconceivable that we would get even 625 page hits in a single month.

The support of and dedication to our little online endeavor has exceeded any plans, ideas or fantasies we ever had. So babies, Your Mama and the Dr. Cooter sincerely thank you from the bottom of our cold, dark and snarky hearts.

American Digs for French Designer Hedi Slimane

BUYER: Hedi Slimane
LOCATION: Beverly Hills, CA
PRICE: $4,100,000 (reportedly)
SIZE: 4,562 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: ...Dramatic 1 story mid century by architect Rex Lotery on almost 20,000 sq. ft. flat. Pristine condition. Hi ceilings & glass walls open to manicured gardens. Water features & large pool, tall bamboo. Light, bright, open & airy interior w/ clerestory glass, teak louvres, terrazzo floors, step-down living & family rm w/ bar, gourmet kitchen w/ brkfst...

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: A couple weeks ago, on February 18th to be exact, Your Mama was yakking with a gal we call Nelly Knowsitall who was generously serving up all kinds of celebrity real estate dirt. Sometime during our lengthy interchange, Ms. Knowsitall whispered in our big ear that after tooling around town for several weeks in a gorgeous green vintage Rolls Royce searching for new digs in Los Angeles, fabled French fashion designer Hedi Slimane and his man-pal finally settled on a Rex Lotery designed house in the Trousdale Estates area of Beverly Hills that was last listed at $4,650,000.

For all the children who do not follow the insular and rarefied world of dreadfully expensive men's habiliment, let Your Mama give y'all a crash course on our Mister Slimane. In the late 1990s, after resigning from a plum post at YSL over differences with notoriously autocratic Tom Ford (who at the time was designing the women's lines for YSL), Mister Slimane landed at the venerable Christian Dior label where he took over designing duds for Dior Homme. It was here, at Dior, that Mister Slimane rose to near mythic fashion world status for making fashion forward men around the world want to be as thin and malnourished looking as a female catwalkers so they could fit into one of Mister Slimane's signature skinny suits.

Mister Slimane's reputation as a mercurial maverick of the dernier cri became substantial enough to warrant a lengthy profile in The New Yorker. The article rather disturbingly revealed that the naturally thin Mister Slimane maintained his super slender boyish figure by eating baby food. As extreme (and probably untrue) as that sounds, it pales in comparison to the absurd but often repeated rumor that high-fashion guru/grandpa Karl Lagerfeld once subsisted on Pepsi Max alone so that he could lose enough weight to fit into one of Mister Slimane's skinny suits. Jeezis children, Your Mama just hopes that is true because, if it is, it's just too dee-voon and dee-lishus we can't stand it.

Anyhoo, Mister Slimane left Dior back in 2007 and soon decamped for the glitz and glam world of Los Angeles where word on the celebrity real estate gossip grapevine is that Mister Slimane and his man-friend scooped up a contemporary crib on an itty-bitty Beverly Hills cul-de-sac.

Interestingly enough, last year, one of the children was interested in purchasing this house last year and at the time she queried Your Mama about what we thought of the place, it was listed at $5,500,000. However, more recent listing information shows the last asking price was $4,650,000 and it is Your Mama's understanding that Mister Slimane managed to purchase the property for just $4,100,000. If that figure is accurate, and we'd bet our long bodied bitches Linda and Beverly it is, Mister Slimane (or his peeps) drove a hard bargain for the fashionista property purchaser.

Prop records show the recently rehabbed house was built in 1962, sits on a flat .46 acre lot and measures 4,562 square feet. One section of listing information we were able to obtain shows the house includes 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, while the listing description indicates there are 5 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms plus a staff room and bath. We trust Mister Slimane will let us know which figures are accurate.

The new Slimane domicle is approached via a gravel driveway that leads to a rail-less concrete bridge that stretches over a moat like water feature that is quite simply not safe for toddlers or anyone like Your Mama who downs a few cocktails before going to a cocktail party. To the right of the entry is a formal dining. The terrazzo floors featured in the entry and the dining room spill down three or four steps to the "formal" living room which opens to the pool terrace through a tall wall of windows. The living room shares a two-sided fireplace with the family room which also sports terrazzo floors and a wall of glass that opens to the pool deck. The family room also features built in bookshelves with space for a flat screen (or course) and a large built in bar where the boozers sit on low poofs and the bartender, preferably a shirtless one, stands at eye level a few steps down.

The island kitchen, with its lovely orange accents (we can't help it, orange is Your Mama's favorite color), looks well stocked with plenty of cabinet space, work space, and of course, a full complement of high end stainless steel appliances. An adjacent breakfast area provides easy access to the outdoors where Mister Slimane and his man-friend, should they ever choose, can grill and chill.

The property does not offer Mister Slimane any views of Los Angeles but the back yard is completely surrounded by tall hedges which will enable Mister Slimane to sunbathe his boyishly lean an lithe little body in the nood without being spotted by the nosy neighbors.

Presumably Mister Slimane continues to maintain a pied in Parisian real estate where Your Mama understands he occupies (or until recently, occupied) a lovely apartment in a bee-yoo-ti-ful brick faced building on the Quai Voltaire in Paris' 7th arrondissement which overlooks the Seine and the the Louvre and which happens to be the same street pencil thin fashion queen Karl Lagerfeld reportedly calls home.

UPDATE: Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner

After many fits and starts and an uber-extensive search through every $15,000,000+ property in the Platinum Triangle that exhausted and tried the patience of real estate agents and real estate gossips alike, it's looking more and more like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner may finally bite the big real estate bullet.

Last week, after a rather revealing memo from Betty Blathersalot and another even more enlightening chit-chat with well konnected Karl Katoutofthebag, Your Mama floated a rather vague discussion about Bennifer (or whatever they're gossip glossy moniker is) setting their notoriously fickle sights on a $20,000,000+ property that had been languishing on the market for an ice age. Since it now appears more specific information is leaking out about their real estate doings, Your Mama figures we don't need to keep our big trap shut on the details anymore.

According to Your Mama's been spilling sources, the preggers pair have been negotiating to buy super-producer Brian Grazer and wifey Gigi Levangie-Grazer's sprawling estate in The Riviera section of Pacific Palisades, CA which was last listed at a whopping $24,500,000.

The 3+ acre, flag lot property provides a gated and tree-lined paparazzi proof driveway, a sprawling 8,798 square foot single story Cliff May designed main house with 5 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms, 4 fireplaces, and what listing information called, "the best projection room in L.A."

In addition to the multi-winged main house, the self-contained compound also includes a separate building with an office, art studio, gym and two bathrooms as well as a guest house, hidden underneath the back yard lawn. Yes children, underneath. The underground space includes two suites for guests or staff, 3 bathrooms, a billiard room, craft room and long views towards the Pacific Ocean. Additional this and thats include a half-court basketball court, a bank of solar panels, an amoeba shaped swimming pool, massive flat lawn areas perfect for gin fueled croquet tournaments, several outdoor terraces for entertaining and, natch, a seriously state of the art security system that Your Mama imagines will zap any foolish intruder with a million volts of electricity before letting them step foot on the property.

Now then, let's all cross our fingers and toes this deal goes through because, quite frankly, we're a little tired about talking about these two.

Gossip Slinger Giuliana Rancic Lists Condo...Again

SELLER: Giuliana Rancic
LOCATION: Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $749,000
SIZE: 1,371 square feet, 1 bedroom, 1.5 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: ...This glamorous unit is one floor down from the penthouse level & is located on the quiet side of the building. This condo features amazing panoramic 180 degree views, large balcony that is great for entertaining while enjoying the evening sunsets, bamboo flooring, open granite kitchen w/ stainless steel appliances, large master suite w/ seating area, walk in closet & deluxe baths.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: While propped up in our sick bed yesterday, the Dr. Cooter hovering about with hot chicken soup, a stack of gossip glossies and a bucket of muscle relaxers, Your Mama received a covert communique from a bean spiller named Kay Suhdia who whispered in our big ear that television talking head Giuliana Rancic once again listed her Wilshire Corrider condo for sale with a new and much lower asking price of $749,000.

See puppies, information Your Mama was able to ferret out from our sources reveals that Mrs. Rancic unsuccessfully attempted to sell her 20th floor aerie at The Grand building back in the spring of 2008 when it was listed with an asking price of $899,000.

Property records show that Mrs. Rancic, a gal who dishes dirt for E! News and who could really benefit from eating a sandwich or two (and who should hire Your damn Mama), scooped up her 1,371 square foot condo back in January of 2003 for $465,000. This was before she met and married a man named Bill Rancic who some of the children will recall took the top honor on the first season of that hairrific Donald Trump's first season of The Apprentice. Mister Rancic has gone on to become a motivational speaker and property developer.

Listing information for Mrs. Rancic's high floor unit indicates it is located on the "quiet" side of the building and includes just 1 bedroom and 1.5 bathrooms, which means, of course, that Mrs. Rancic's dinner guests do not have to enter her boo-dwar in order to use the terlit.

According to Kay Suhdia, Mrs. Rancic hired nice gay decorator Thom Felicia to do up the day-core of her modest digs. All the Bravo babies will remember Mister Felicia was one of those high-maintenance homos on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy that ran around New York City like chickens with their heads cut off saving straight men who did not know how to cook, date, dress or decorate.

Mister Felicia chose to cover the rear wall of the open plan living and dining room area in a paisley patterned wallpaper which we feel competes visually with the striped wallpaper that has been wrapped around the soffit. The sitting area includes a large slate colored sofa opposite a flat screen tee-vee mounted above a long low credenza. Facing the cozy couch are two wing back chairs in striped fabrics and a couple of tufted poofs which all makes for a lovely conversation area. Two Wassily chairs by Marcel Breuer complete the scene. We'd bet our long bodied bitches Linda and Beverly the Wassilys are not vintage and were picked up at Design Within Reach, which is neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things, but there's just isn't any patina in the day-core so it would be highly surprising for the chairs to be originals. A wall of glass sliders at the end of the room open to a narrow, planted terrace where a petit table and a couple of chairs and stools look west over the urban carpet of Los Angeles below.

The dining area, which includes a very 1970s wet bar situation we wish Mister Felicia has enclosed behind some kind of cabinetry, has been did up with a shiny black dining room table surrounded by four chairs upholstered in periwinkle fabric and lit by a drum shaped chandelier we are happy to report has been hung at an appropriate height. A large triptych of a giant jellyfish hangs on the back wall and while we rather like the image, it seems a rather unusual choice and one we hope was driven by Mrs. Rancic's own artistic interests than that of Miss Felicia.

Mrs. Rancic's bedroom, which we assume she shares with Chicago-based Mister Rancic when he's in town, has been carpeted in chocolate brown and includes a big bed with hotel-like linens, a large chair and ottoman for reading, and a sliding glass door to the terrace. The master bath with it's beige walls, beige tile and brown and beige marble counter top is lackluster at best and includes a stall shower separate from one of those too small apartment bathtubs that look barely big enough to bath a child let alone an adult.

Although Your Mama knows nuthin' from nuthin' about Mister and Missus Rancic and their baby making plans, we'd put our money on the couple's next real estate purchase being a nice little house somewhere in a good zip code of Los Angeles (or Chicago) where they can raise a couple of children. We wish them all the best.

Your Mama Hears...

...That Puff Daddy (or Just Diddy or Diddle Daddle or whatever dumb name Sean Combs wants to be called today) is angling to buy the same Sunset Strip house he's been leasing the last few months.

Back in the early summer of 2008 Mister crazypants Combs set up his lavish camp in a glassy house in the hills for which a gal named Fancy Nancy swore on her vintage Chanel clutch that he was paying around thirty grand a month. A lot of money by most standards, but just pocket change for a self-made mogul who burns through money like a wildfire through Southern California underbrush. The 4 bedroom house offers Pee Papa (or whatever) 3 main bedrooms, an additional bedroom for the staff/entourage where he could probably put up his umbrella carrier and ass wiper in bunk beds, 5.5 bathrooms, a media room, a lovely view towards Century City, and two swimming pools. That's right children, two damn swimming pools.

The house on St. Ives Drive is currently on the market at $5,995,000 (after having been listed last year at $5,495,000 last year prior to P-Daddy signing a lease.

In addition to his (currently temporary) West Coast crib, Mister Diddy has a handful of properties including a mansion on Miami's Star Island where its been rumored and reported that–much to the chagrin and consternation of many–high drama hip-hoppers Rihanna and Chris Brown have been rekindling their love affair.

Parminder Nagra Appears To Be Flipping Out in the Franklin Hills

SELLER: Parminder Nagra
LOCATION: Lyric Avenue, Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $1,448,000 (currently off-market)
SIZE: 2,4,84 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: ...This is an example of sheer perfection featuring: Ample natural light, open flr plan, den/media room, dramatically over sized cstm wdws, 3 frplcs, 2 balc w/ stunning NW views, 2 patios, terraced bckyd, 25 ft ceilings, NEW systems, cstm kitchen, hdwd flrs, lndry rm, pre0-wired for sound, internet ready, dir access from grge, finished bonus space (not incld in st ft – 40 x 15).

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Listen puppies, Your Mama has been bitten by the flu bug so we're going to try to get out a discussion between our too frequent trips to the terlit. Please have a bit of patience with us while we try to mend up so that we can jump into the celebrity real estate saddle as soon as possible. In the meantime you're just going to have to make do with this admitedly anemic discussion.

Back in mid-February, Your Mama received a covert communique from Mister Dave over at Celebrity Address Aerial who pointed our nosy nose towards a house in the Franklin Hills area of Los Angeles owned by actress Parminder Nagra which had been recently listed at $1,448,000.

Although Ms. Nagra did all sorts of television and stage work early in her career, she shot to fame in the film Bend It Like Beckham back in 2002. Shortly after, she was hired by the producers of hospital drama E.R. where she remains one of the Emmy winning programs leading ladies. Of course, everyone who knows Your Mama knows that we don't care for hospital dramas so if truth be told, we wouldn't know Ms. Nagra if she walked right up to us wearing scrubs and carrying a script.

Property records show Ms. Nagra picked up this house on Lyric Avenue in September of 2007 when she forked over $870,000 for the 2,484 square foot house. At the time the house was a real fixer and, from the looks of things, Ms. Nagra spent a few dollars giving the place a make over.

Given that Ms. Nagra has owned a house in the Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles since September of 2004, it's unclear to Your Mama if the British born boob-toober ever intended to live in this house in the Franklin Hills or if, like so many others in early and mid-2007, she bought it to get into the property flipping business.

Whatever the case, the house was listed in mid-July 2008 where it lingered without a buyer until the end of January of 2009 when it was taken off the market. The 4 bedroom and 3 bathroom quasi-contemporary was last listed at $1,484,000. Had she sold the house anywhere near the asking price, Ms. Nagra would have pocketed around half a million clams for her flip. But alas...

Now then, let's look beyond insipid and uninspired day-core, which we'd bet our long bodied bitches Linda and Beverly is staging, because otherwise we'd have to discuss the perplexing preponderance of beige and brown micro-suede furniture and those disturbing duck figurines tucked up under the sink in the master bathroom. Quite frankly, Your Mama just don't have the stomach for that today.

Listing information shows the living room has a fireplace, very high ceilings and a large, not quite right acrhed window the opens to a narrow terrace overlooking the street. The dining area and newly renovated kitchen with boring black granite counters also share the same lofty ceiling as the living room. A family room area sits half a flight up, has a second fireplace and a large opening where Rapunzel can throw down her hair to someone in the living room below.

The master bedroom boasts a high peaked ceiling and a wall of windows that open to a roof terrace with outdoor fireplace and lovely views over the tree tops. Your Mama genuinely hopes the sliding doors in the master bedroom are not the only point of exit from the house to the terrace because no one needs guests traipsing through the master bedroom and getting a good look at where all the magic happens, or as the unfortunate case may be for some couples, does not happen.

Listing information indicates that in addition to the terraces, the back yard is terraced to take full advantage of its up slope, new systems have been installed (which we think means new electric and plumbing) and the house is pre-wired for sound and internet. Somewhere in the house is a 600 square foot bonus room not included in the square footage on file with the County of Los Angeles that can be used for any number of uses including a home theater, a home gym, a home office or perhaps an illegal gambling parlor or s/m dungeon.

Presumably, this house will either be put back on the market at a reduced price of put out for lease until the market stabilizes and Ms. Nagra can recoup her investment. We shall see.